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CHAPTER 16THE BEST CONTROL FOR

HUMAN LICE AND SCABIES

Lice R Gone Shampoo is registered as a FDA Medical Device in the USA.

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ORDER ANOPLURA

FAMILY PEDICULIDAE

Three Types of Human Lice

Are you having a lousy time?

The head louse (Pediculus humanus capitas) (DeGeer), the body louse (Pediculus humanus humanus) (Lin-naeus) and the crab louse (Pthirus pubis) (Linnaeus) all occur on humans. All three cause considerable skin irritation as they feed on human blood or crawl on the body. Typhus, impetigo, trench fever and relapsing fever have all been transmitted by body and head lice. Scratching can lead to secondary bacterial infections leaving children feeling achy, feverish and/or lethargic. Human lice can establish and maintain themselves only on hu-mans. A louse cannot hop or jump. They can, however, crawl fast. They are usually transmitted only through close personal contact. They are less frequently transmitted through the sharing of personal articles or toilet seats. For head lice, this includes combs, brushes and other grooming aids, hats, headbands, helmets, caps, headrests, wigs, curlers or other headgear, especially when these items are stored in shared lockers. They spread or infest by crawling, they live by biting and sucking blood from the scalp and can survive for up to 48 hours off a human head, and the nits on a hair shaft can survive from 4 - 10 days - so vacuum thoroughly and/or spray/clean with diluted enzyme cleaners or peppermint soaps. Head lice infestations have been a problem a long time - Pliny, a Greek naturalist (23-79 AD) suggested bathing in viper broth. Montezuma paid people to pick nits off his subjects, dried them and then saved them in his treasury. W. Coles in his 1657 book Adam in Eden: or Natures Paradise noted that the oil from hyssop (Hyssopus) killeth lice. Nicholas Culpeper in his 1681 The English Physician Enlarged recommended tobacco juice to kill lice on childrens heads, a very early reference to the use of tobacco as an insecticide poison. Medical historians trace head lice infestations back 9,000 years! In the U. S. head lice are not known to spread disease or cause serious injury - they are only considered to be repugnant. Like other U. S. public health agencies, the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention have never tracked head lice outbreaks, said official, Tom Skinner. Sometimes called mecha-nized dandruff. Head lice may be nasty, itchy and very contagious, but the poisons sold to get rid of lice are even worse. Among the reactions to poison shampoo or lice treatments are seizures, mental retardation, many different allergies and respiratory problems, strange tingling, burning, itching, attention deficit disorders, brain tumors, leukemia, cancer and death. The Author does not suggest the use of poisons to control lice.

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Head lice and body lice, which are different forms (subspecies) of Pediculus humanus, are very similar in ap-pearance. Lice are wingless insects whose legs have claws that grip and hold onto hair shafts. Their abdomens are distinctly longer than they are wide. Their are 6 pairs of breathing spiracles. Their color, which varies from dirty-white to rust to grayish-black, usually approaches the hair color of the host. Head lice almost always oc-cur on the head where they attach their eggs (nits) to the hair; body lice prefer to live in the seams and linings of unwashed clothing, blankets and sheets from which they periodically crawl onto the skin to feed. Although body lice usually deposit their nits on unwashed clothing fibers, the nits are sometimes found on body hair as well. Head lice can change to become the color of the hosts hair.

Crab lice live only on the hairy portions of the body. Their legs are adapted to grasp hairs which are rather widely spaced, and for this reason, these lice prefer the pubic and perianal regions. However, they can be found in eyelashes, head and arm pit hair.

Female head lice produce from 50 to 150 eggs (6 to 10 nits per day) which they usually attach to hair behind the ears, on the nape of the neck and occasionally to other body hairs. Nits may also be found in sports headgear, hats, combs, barrettes, scarves, brushes, etc. and other common means of infecting a host. The incidence of infestation is greater among persons with long or dense hair, particularly when regular and thorough grooming and washing is neglected. The eggs hatch in 5 to 10 days, and the young, which resemble the adults except for size, mature in 8 to 22 days during which time they undergo three skin molts to allow for their ever increasing body growth. Adults normally live only about 3 weeks or more, depending upon conditions. They do not resist starvation well - at 75o F. all head lice die after 55 hours without a blood meal.

HUMAN LICE - Three species of lice feed on man and both males and females (immatures and adults) require blood meals to complete their development. The antennae have no more than 5 segments; the head is narrower than the thorax and the thoracic segments are fused with the abdomen. The head louse or cootie is bluish-gray to whitish, wingless, up to 1/8 long, usually found among the hairs of the scalp. The eggs, or nits, are attached to hairs close to the skin. The body louse is similar to the head louse but is found mainly in seams of clothing, worn close to the body. Body louse eggs or nits are attached to unwashed clothing. The crab louse is a short, broad, thick-legged insect about 1/5 long is normally found in the crotch or arm pit or other body areas with pubic hair. The eggs or nits are also attached to these pubic hairs. Except for the common cold, head lice infestation is a more common infestation than all the other childhood communicable conditions combined (6 - 20 million people become infested each year with a treatment cost of approximately $367 million dollars and untold contamination problems). All three lice suck human blood and are not found on birds, dogs, cats, farm animals or other hosts.

THE POISON RESISTANCE PROBLEM - Contemporary Pediatrics, Vol. 15, No. 11 noted: in the UK, children treated for head lice four years earlier with pyrethroid compounds (permethrin and phenothrin) needed at least 16 to 20 times the usual dose to eradicate another infestation. Laboratory-bred lice in this experiment died within two hours of exposure to 0.1% permethrin but lice from the heads of children who had been exposed to pyrethroid products took as long as 72 hours to die. In Israel, clinically significant resistance to permethrin oc-curred within 2.5 years of its introduction, a time span corresponding to approximately 40 generations of lice...Perhaps the most striking increase in resistance to permethrin has been recorded in the Czech Republic, where the concentration of permethrin required to kill 90% of head lice increased by some 500 times between 1981 and 1992!

Christina Beckwith, Pharm D noted in her Head Lice: New and Improved?, The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) is conducting a US study to determine the incidence and extent of resistance and plans to publish their results. Preliminary results, released by the NPA without the investigators permission, appear to indicate some US lice are resistant. In a preliminary in vitro study with 209 lice from 57 children, 100% survived in petri dishes containing varying permethrin doses!

The Spring, 1996 issue of the National Pediculosis Associations (NPA) Progress noted that for the past year the NPA has been averaging 50 calls a day reporting commercial product treatment failure - in spite of this - the continued use of these toxins - dog flea and tick shampoos, lice sprays, kerosene and/or other dangerous alternatives including Lindane are (still) being used repeatedly. Lindane was the cause of at least 70% of the reported serious health reactions to lice poison shampoos. Lindane is described by its Manufacturer as a power-ful contact and internal poison. Lindane has been banned in 18 countries and severely restricted in 10 others.

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The FDA recommends lindane only be used where other treatments are ineffective. The majority of treatment failures involved Nix and Rid. Children still have live lice right after the poison shampoo. In thousands of uses Not Nice to Lice-UK and Lice R Gone have controlled resistant lice/nits safely.

Historically, the disease typhus, with the causal agent, Rickettsia prowazekii, is transmitted by body and head lice, was common where people were confined together and could not wash or delouse their clothing. This dis-ease became epidemic within confined populations such as cities under siege or armies limited to trenches or on the move and unable to simply wash and, thereby, delouse their clothes. Typhus is a fatal disease and was so pervasive it, more than wounds of war, determined who was victorious and who was defeated in wartime. Widespread louse epidemics actually ceased being a problem when DDT dust became available in World War II. Although body lice quickly became resistant to DDT when it was intensively and repeatedly used, other synthetic pesticide poisons were then tried. (Typhus epidemics are not known to be caused by crab louse infestations.) Even with the elimination of the large scale lice infestations, people are still puzzled and alarmed when small, persistent louse outbreaks occur. Common examples of small infestations are head louse infestations among elementary school aged children, body louse infestations on people who are unable to care for themselves, and/ pubic louse infestations resulting from sexual intercourse with an infested partner. Try washing with Safe Solu-tions, Inc. Lice R Gone or Not Nice to Lice-UK Shampoo products (and if you have stubborn nits, with Tangles R Gone Hair Conditoner), diluted enzyme cleaners and/or peppermint soap or neem soaps, combs and saunas, or even plain soap with some borax, before using any synthetic poison shampoos. Neem extracts will also eliminate human lice. Caution: Before you apply any synthetic pesticide poison shampoos to people, first try a sauna (if your doctor permits) and/or wash the infested area with Lice R Gone or Not Nice to Lice-UK enzyme shampoos - it goes farther; then comb out all nits with a metal lice or flea comb; allow wet enzymes to remain on the infested area and work for 10 - 15 minutes or until you feel the nits loosen and pull away from the hair shaft; thoroughly rinse and apply a good conditioner. If any nits remain, apply baby oil to hair and let soak overnight under a shower cap, or apply Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner for 15 minutes. Then comb out remaining nits with a metal nit or flea comb. Repeat treatment(s) if necessary. You can be very helpful as a consultant on louse infestations and can provide a great service by discouraging any pediculicidal (poison) use other than as a last resort. Leaving decisions on pediculicide choices with parents, school medical personnel, physicians, or the infested individual strengthens everyones confidence in the your technical understanding and discourages the application or spraying of any dangerous, volatile, synthetic pesticide poisons. However, it is not morally wrong to try to convince people to first try Intelligent Pest Management nontoxic (personal) controls before using dangerous/useless poisons. Especially when entire families are washing everyones hair with these poisons just to be sure they do not get a head louse infestation. Would you give everyone in your family penicillin as a preventative so they wont get strep throat? Note: Pyrethrum- or permethrin-based pediculicides should not be used by persons with asthma or that are sensitive to ragweed, should not be inhaled or swallowed or used near the eyes or allowed to come in contact with mucous membranes, e.g., the eyes, nose or mouth. Note: Pyrethrum and pipernoyl butoxide are now considered to be carcinogenic. Lindane has been identified as both neurotoxic and carcinogenic and is already banned in 18 nations around the world. No pediculicide poison should be used on infants, pregnant women or nursing mothers or on cut or abraded scalps. No poison should ever be used to treat lice twice if it failed the first time, clearly indicating the lice may, at the very least, be resistant or immune to that particular product/poison. There are no poisons in the Pestisafes Not Nice to Lice-UK Shampoo, Lice R Gone Shampoo, Tangles R Gone or Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners with or without Peppermint.

HEAD LICE Pedicululus humanus var capitis

Adult - Head lice spread easily and infestations often occur at all social and economic levels, especially among school children who are in close daily contact. At least 10 million children are infected each year. Infestations are called pediculosis, which is

a communicable disease. They vary in color from dirty white to reddish-brown to rust to grayish black in color. If the nymphal stages are passed on a person of blonde or light coloration, the adult louse is light in color, but if they are passed on a person of dark hair coloring, then the resulting wingless adult is more pronounced in coloration. They are small - about the size of a sesame seed. They need a warm, moist habitat. They spread by crawling. We have had some reports of a strain that appear to jump. They live by biting and sucking blood from the scalp and can not normally survive for more than 2 days unless they are on the human head. Head lice arent nice.

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Egg - Eggs or nits (that look like tiny white or tan dots) are usually laid by the female close to the base of the hair near the scalp and they are firmly cemented to the hair. The eggs (and the empty shell) are known as nits and are always oval- or tear-shaped, and are glued at an angle to the side of the hair shaft. They are usually tan when alive and pearly or grayish white in color after dying. The nits usually occur near the scalp (clustered in groups), but can often be found nestled behind the ears and at the nape of the neck. The hatched egg is easily identified by its opalescent and translucent appearance. Just before hatching the eyes and other struc-tures of the embryo can be made out through the translucent shell. On hatching, the top of the egg opens like a lid. Live nits may be occasionally found anywhere on the hair shaft, but normally they are found near the scalp and they are super-glued on and do not flake off like dandruff. They are so hard to remove we invented the term nitpicking to describe the difficulty. One louse can lay 150 nits a month (normal lifetime). They hatch in about 10 days, depending on the climate. Nits need at least 82o F.; and 70% humidity to incubate. During the incubation time the respiratory passages of the louse shut whenever the nits are immersed in water and they can survive under water for over 24 hours. Nuttall (1917) found 80% laid on hair and 20% laid on flannel. The top of the egg or operculum supplies air and humidity to the developing louse.

Nymphal stages - There are three nymphal stages, all of which resemble the adult except in size and pos-session of sexual organs, but they do have some change in color. During the first stage the nymph is a pale straw color and has no central nervous system (CNS) and, therefore, can not be killed using volatile, synthetic pesticide neurotoxins or by poisons that attack the CNS. The poisons and the inerts in these volatile pesticides can and do, however, attack your CNS! The gut of the nymph is clearly visible through the almost translucent cuticle, and when the first-stage nymphs have taken a meal of blood they are shining red in color, like rubies. Afterwards the blood darkens and thereafter the gut appears purplish-black. The young nymph is able to feed almost immediately after emergence and after this feeds regularly, at least twice daily. The nymphs and adults feed by pressing the front of their heads against the skin of their hosts; a series of curved teeth around their mouths then fasten on to the skin and the piercing stylets are released from a pouch where they are normally invisible, to pierce the skin. Saliva from the salivary glands lubricates the stylets and they begin to feed on you. Enzymes create an extra molt they werent anticipating and will quickly destroy live lice and help remove nits/glue. Lice can not become resistant (immune) to Pestisafes, e.g., Lice R Gone or Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaners with peppermint or salt or borax or heat.

Length of life cycle - The egg hatches within 8 - 9 days and the nymphal stages take approximately the same length of time. The life cycle takes place, therefore, every 18 days. The length of the adult stage in the male is about 10 days and in the female can vary from 9 - 22 days. A maximum of about 6 to 10 nits/eggs are laid each day by each female and the maximum hatch rate has been found to be 88%. All lice feed on blood every 3 - 6 hours and can only survive about 20 - 48 hours without a blood meal. Nits are the size of the period at the end of this sentence. At cooler temperatures (50o - 68o F.) eggs may hatch up to 30 days later.

Pediculus humanus capitus (DeGeer) - Adult head lice are gray and about 1/8 inch long about the size of a sesame seed. They often have a tiny dot on their backs. They thrive only on human hair and scalps. Hatching occurs about one week after attachment. Since lice go through a gradual/simple metamorphosis, the tiny nymphs resemble adults. They grow to maturity in about 10 days. Adult lice mate and the female can lay about 50-150 eggs, but often falls short of that in her life of only several weeks. Wetting the hair and rubbing the scalp with a towel irritates the adult lice and makes them move about, aiding in their detection. You may wish to simply shave off the hair and thus remove the infestation, or you may soak the hair with baby oil until you feel the nits move or loosen and then use a lice comb and then shampoo, or sauna and/or wash your hair with Lice R Gone Shampoo, diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaners, peppermint or neem soap or salt water and vinegar and/or borax laundry powder before trying anything more toxic. Wash your hair with Lice R Gone; leave on for 10 minutes or until you feel the nits move freely off the hair shaft, then rinse or comb with a metal lice or flea comb if you wish. If any nits remain, then use Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner and comb them out. Then go to your public health practitioners for an examination. In the United States, lice live in the head hair of pre-schoolers and of children of elementary school age (only rarely on adolescents or adults). This could simply be because little children hate having their hair shampooed with soap. Lice scuttle about on the scalp between hairs with much more speed than expected of a small, soft, wingless insect with slender hair grasping claws on the end of blunt legs. They are very sensitive to dry heat, so we advise saunas and/or hair dryers rather than poison head/hair treatments. They are sensitive to oil, so we also advise adding a conditioner and/or soaking the hair with olive, coconut or baby oil to kill the lice and help remove the nits. Pestisafes such as Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint or Lice R Gone contain basically dish soap or baby shampoo, peppermint oil and

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meat tenderizer, all things to which lice are sensitive. (Be sure you are not sensitive too!) Salt water will also kill lice, but will not remove the nits. Hair dryers will kill lice and nits in 30 minutes or less.

Close adaptation locks head lice into the human scalp in several ways. First, louse claws grasp human hair so firmly that they do not fall or wander out of it and yet they can crawl fast. Second, head lice suck blood by grasping the scalp with tiny hooks that surround their mouth, and painlessly pierce the skin with slender stylets. (Head lice feed several times a day but do not engorge themselves.) Most importantly, head lice neatly glue their eggs (called nits) to the hair shaft, usually within inch of the scalp. The tiny, pearl-like eggs (they look like miniature wax tear drops) stick alongside the hair so tightly that they can be dislodged only by being torn from their neat sleeve of biological glue by fingernails or a metal lice comb or Safe Solutions Enzyme Clean-ers. Usually nits found further away from the scalp than inch will have already hatched; what is found is the empty shell which remains attached. The easiest way to remove cemented eggs is to cut them out or try to soak the hair in vinegar or baby oil or in diluted Lice R Gone for 10 - 30 minutes; them comb out with a metal nit or flea comb. If any nits still remain, apply Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner and recomb. How head lice are spread from child to child other than crawling is not well known, but they do not jump off or freely wander onto coat collars or hats, since they are restricted to humans with a scalp surface temperature of around 80o F. or a little more, but head-to-head contact and sharing of clothing, hair ornaments and grooming materials are thought to be the normal routes of invasion. Temperature preference and perhaps humidity is so critical that lice easily die at elevated temperatures and from excess salty perspiration - so sauna! Conversely, at lower surface temperatures (about 50o F.) lice become torpid and do not move or feed. A reasonable speculation is that head louse nymphs hatch from nits on hair shafts snatched by brushes and deposited on knit hats. The tiny nymphs then move toward the warmth of the next head covered by the cap or brushed by the brush. This normally limits transmission to siblings that have their hair brushed with a family brush or children who share knit hats or hair brushes of friends. Get your own brush and cap and become selfish.

Louse infestations are often discovered by school teachers who are watching for the signs of itching heads and/or frequent scratching, but classroom neighbors are not as likely to be infested as are brothers and sisters or close friends that sleep over with head-to-head contact or share combs and hair brushes and/or head gear. (American) head lice have been shown by surveys in several large eastern cities to infest the heads of Cauca-sian and Oriental children but they very seldom infest those of African Americans (whose hair may be more oily and flattened). If you are using Lice R Gone - wash your hair again in 5 - 10 days with the same protocol, if necessary. Be sure not to confuse nits with hair debris such as irregularly-shaped clumps of dandruff stuck to the hair shaft or elongated segments of dandruff encircling the hair shaft - that are easily dislodged. You have to get rid of all the nits on the hair shafts to prevent a reinfestation; use a bright light, a magnifying glass and metal (nit/flea) comb.

South Florida kids have been kept out of school 68 days at a time per Terry Meinking, B. A. at a Hyatt Regency meeting in Tampa on 5/4/99. For every 4 children found to be infested with head lice by the comb method, only 1 child was found to be infested by the visual method. The punctures the lice make while feeding and people make by scratching will transfer bacterial infections, which explains the statement feeling lousy. Vaseline, which is a mix of mineral oil and wax, can be applied 5 times a day for a week to eyelashes if eyelashes are found to be infested with head or crab lice, but Vaseline is very flammable!

Head Louse Control - The diagnosis can be difficult as the insects tend to hide among the hair shafts in re-sponse to light or disturbance. Use a comb with parallel teeth spaced 0.3 mm or less apart and examine under a bright light or in sunlight. A study in Israel found 70% of infested children had only 1 - 10 lice. The real control problems are the nits that remain on the hair shaft (even if no longer on the head) and can hatch and reinfest for up to 10-20 days later, so soak your head with olive oil or baby oil overnight and cover with a shower cap; then use a metal nit comb and then shampoo with a conditioner in the a.m. or simply wash your hair with Lice R Gone Shampoo for 10 minutes or until the nits pull away, and then rinse off the enzyme solution, lice and nits. If any nits remain, apply your Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner and recomb. When combing out nits, work with small sections (1 or smaller) of hair. Keep the metal combs teeth deep into the hair from the scalp to the end of the hair. Clean your louse comb after each stroke in dilute enzyme cleaners or hot soapy water. Keep the hair moist (use a spray bottle of diluted enzymes). Adding baby or olive oil or vinegar and/or Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner may make the combing of nits out of the hair easier. Only after trying all of the alternatives, and then only as a last resort, there are several over-the-counter (OTC) poison preparations that can be used to try to eliminate louse infestations, but we believe they are all equally ineffective and dangerous even when

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used according to label directions. Look at your over-the-counter head lice shampoo warnings and ingredi-ents very closely. The Rid 0.5% permethrin spray says, THIS PRODUCT IS NOT FOR USE ON HUMANS OR ANIMALS. Avoid breathing spray mist. Avoid contact with skin. Use only in well ventilated areas. Avoid spraying in eyes. In case of contact wash immediately with soap and water. Vacate room after treatment and ventilate before re-occupying. The Nix 1% permethrin shampoo (which is twice as strong) says leave on the (childs) hair for 10 minutes but no longer and notes, This product may cause breathing difficulty or an asthmatic episode in susceptible persons, etc. The 1995 Physicians Desk Reference notes that in all 3 mouse studies there was an increased incidence of pulmonary alveolar - cell carcinomas and benign liver adenomas in female mice at a concentration of 5000 ppm of the active ingredient permethrin in their food. This shampoo also has several interesting inert ingredients including isopropyl alcohol, propylene glycol, etc. The propylene glycol MSDS says, Avoid skin contact; it is used in industry as antifreeze, airplane de-icer and brake fluid. It can cause skin irritation, dermatitis, erythematous plaques, CNS depression, stupor, seizures, nausea, stinging, irritation, redness, etc. The isopropyl alcohol MSDS notes it can enter into people through inhalation, skin and/or ingestion and may cause irritation to eyes and to the respiratory tract, is an anesthetic and may also cause CNS depression. Both MSDS sheets for these inerts require respirators or air supplied masks in confined areas and goggles and protective gloves! Propylene glycol suggests impervious clothing and equipment! The California Department of Health Sciences warned in a 1996 report there is circumstantial evidence of increased head lice resistance to poisons. School health workers all over the U. S. have been saying for years the pesticide poisons registered for scalp use were not working any more. Prescription poison preparations, e.g., lindane, may permanently harm the patient in the attempt to kill the eggs as well as live lice. The poison cure, obvi-ously, is far worse than the disease.

We do not believe any of the over-the-counter poison preparations are safe or that they even control lice - recently some health directives, e.g., The Childrens Hospital Oakland Highlight Nov. 1996 - also said these poisons do not work as directed and they have mislead people by saying you must leave these poisons on for 3 - 8 hours (under a shower cap)! See Chapter 13 and Chapter 1 on Permethrin as a poison. An Israeli study published in the British journal Medical and Veterinary entomology in 1995 noted that Israeli scientists blamed permethrin in particular for the head lice resistance they found. The results suggest that resistance to pyrethroids has developed rapidly among head lice since permethrin was introduced (in Israel) in 1991. The first application supposedly kills all of the live lice. Viable nits hatch in 6 - 10 days and the second application supposedly kills that new population. These lousicides (poisons) are applied to wet hair and after a short wait-ing period they are shampooed out. (Remember, most researchers and health officials will tell you virtually any olive oil or soap shampoo, or peppermint soap or natural soap without these poisons will kill or wash away the lice, so simply wash your head with any shampoo daily for 2 weeks.) Advise family members they should first try: hand removal with a metal nit or flea comb, a baby oil treatment, washing their hair with salt water and/or vinegar, a hair dryer or sauna, (if your doctor permits) and/or washing with natural soap, neem soap or diluted peppermint soap, or with diluted Safe Solutions enzyme cleaners, or (better yet) with Lice R Gone Shampoo (it goes farther) and a metal lice or metal flea comb and then rinse off and apply Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner. Repeat the same process in 10 days at least be careful to not get any Lice R Gone Shampoo in the eyes - even natural soap burns the eyes.

Wash bedding and towels in hot water and knit caps in cold water and diluted enzyme cleaners and borax and dry at least 20 minutes in a clothes dryer to be sure any nits on fallen hairs are killed or removed. Vacuum all surfaces where children lie or play (including stuffed toys). (In day care centers and kindergartens, napping mats should be wiped with diluted enzyme cleaners and/or routinely vacuumed.) Discard the bag. Routinely mop and clean with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners and/or borax. Daily vacuum and clean rugs or simply quarantine them for 10 - 14 days after vacuuming. Remember, never apply synthetic pesticide poisons to rooms, toys, or furniture surfaces. Store all other exposed items in bags for 2 weeks or dry clean. Dont forget to vacuum the car and all (upholstered) furniture. Try hand or manual removal of nits using Lice R Gone Shampoo, bobby pins, hair-clips, grooming combs, nit/flea removal combs, safety scissors, tweezers, scotch tape and a magnifying glass and a bright light, etc. Then disinfect by soaking these items and all other hair ornaments, brushes and combs in 130o F. hot water (or diluted Safe Solutins, Inc. enzyme water) for 15 minutes. Thoroughly check all family members at the same time and treat only those who are infected. It is very interesting that usually only young children get head lice and that even regular soap shampoos have removed head lice (but not their nits). Little children hate to wash their hair and cry when the soap gets in their eyes; as we get older and wash our hair more often and use a hair dryer, the incidence

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of head lice declines dramatically. Even if they cry, thoroughly and routinely wash the childrens heads with diluted peppermint soap, soap with anise oil, neem soap, salt water with vinegar, natural soap or Lice R Gone Shampoos. Be careful to keep all such materials out of the eyes!

Safety is the most important factor in your choice of lice removal techniques because the infestation does not present a real (USA) health risk to the host. Pediculicides are all classified as neurotoxin agents (nerve gas). There are no pediculicide poisons in the Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme products.

Caution: 90% of all commercial soap shampoos use a detergent called sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) or sodium laureth sulfate (SLES) and/or sodium laurel sulfate (SLS) that can be retained in tissues up to 5 days even after a single drop. Dr. Keith Green noted (SLS) causes improper eye development in children. SLS has a tendency to react with other ingredients to form NDELA, a nitrosamine and potent carcinogen. Researchers actually es-timate the nitrate absorption of one soap shampoo is equal to eating a pound of bacon! The FDA has recently warned shampoo manufacturers of unacceptable levels of dioxin in products containing SLES. SLS may be a skin irritant that can penetrate and impair the skin barrier.

Remember, decisions on the formulation/use of dangerous lousicide, treatment of head infections from extensive infestations, and so forth, are decisions that still should be made by parents and physicians. If you suspect a personal infestation, first try Lice R Gone, Prell and/or salt water with vinegar before going to the doctor. All reported louse infestations of adolescents and adults should then be investigated by a physician; if live lice are not seen, the nits (if any) should be examined through a microscope to verify that they are not symptoms of other scalp conditions. Spend most of your time vacuuming and working on the infested person - not on cleaning or spraying the area with toxic poisons. If you clean, thoroughly vacuum and then use diluted enzyme cleaners or diluted peppermint soap. We do not recommend any volatile pesticide poisons. Caution: when the normal poison treatments dont work, some physicians prescribe stronger doses of permethrin, a synthetic py-rethroid, a 5% solution rather than the 1% in Nix. But, if lice become resistant to the weaker solution, it is likely they will also resist the stronger dose (eventually) as well...and remember...the warning on the box of Rid and/or Brite-Life regarding their synthetic pyrethroid, Not for use on humans or animals! Some over-the-counter poison shampoos warn you not to put these poisons on scalps that have been cut or scratched, yet virtually everyone scratches their head when they are infested with head lice. If you want some interesting reading, read the MSDS for all of the unregistered, untested inerts in these poisons.

BODY LICEPediculus humanis var corporis

Appearance - The body louse is very similar to the head louse; the body louse is usually 10% - 20% larger, has thinner antennae, not as deep abdominal indentations, with better developed abdominal muscles than the head louse.

Life Cycle

Egg - This again is generally similar to that of the head louse. The eggs are glued to fibers of clothing and are sometimes found stuck to body hairs. Most eggs are usually found in the seams of clothes which come in contact with the skin where the adults and the nymphal stages are to be found. The body louse lays about twice as many eggs as the head louse and the nits can remain dormant for a period up to 30 days.

Nymphs - Body louse nymphs spend the greater part of their time in the clothing, and feeding on the host only takes place when the host is resting or sleeping. All stages of the body louse congregate together, being attracted to each other by smell, e.g., the odor of the excrement. Body lice crawl about the clothing, generally keeping close to the hosts body, although in heavy infestations they may be seen crawling outside on the outer garments.Length of life cycle - The body louse adults live about twice as long as head lice, are more resistant to starva-tion and exhibit less mortality during development.

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Body lice females may deposit 200 or more eggs, usually attaching them to clothing fibers. The development period is similar to that of head lice, but they may remain dormant for up to 30 days. The life history of crab lice is also similar except that the young require 2 to 2- weeks to mature and the adults normally live about a month.

Human lice usually cannot survive for long when separated from their host. Head and body lice leave the host or clothing voluntarily only when the host has died for becomes hot with fever or has gone into a sauna, or when they try to avoid strong light or to transfer to another host in close personal (sexual) contact. Human lice are completely dependent upon human blood for sustenance. Lice feed frequently, usually every 3 to 6 hours, and can not usually survive more than 48 hours away from the human body. Their bites cause bad itching and red spots about the size of a mosquito bite - but remember it may take as long as 2 - 3 weeks (or even more) for some people to experience the intense itching associated with an infestation of pediculosis.

CRAB LICEPhthirus pubis (Linnaeus)

Appearance - This insect is easily differentiated from the head louse and body louse by the strong thick claws of the mid and hind legs, while the claws of the fore legs are long and fine. The body is broader than long, contrasting with both other species of Pediculus humanus.

Life cycle - The egg is slightly smaller than that of Pediculus and it is glued to a body hair with more cement. The egg hatches in 7 - 8 days. The three nymphal stages do not wander far from the hair, which is grasped with the tarsal claws. Several hours are usually taken to complete each bloodsucking meal. They occasionally are found on eye lashes and eye brows.

The nymphs become adults in from 13 - 17 days and it seems probable that the length of adult life is not more than one month. Fewer eggs are laid than Pediculus. The adult is thought to be unable to survive longer than 24 hours when removed from its host.

Crab lice usually die within 24 hours if separated from their host. This short survival and their sluggish movement inhibit the spread of crab lice, except through intimate (sexual) personal contact or in extremely crowded living and sleeping conditions where they can and do spread readily. Crab lice may be (but rarely are) spread by nits on loose hairs left on bedding, towels and toilets by infested persons.

Head Lice Overview

Many diseases affect our children today, but few are as communicable and as wide spread as head lice (Pedicu-losis humanus captis) and few involve the repeated direct exposure of young children to dangerous, synthetic pesticide poisons - that do not even control resistant lice - some health departments and physicians have been mislead to believe children should keep these toxins on their heads - under a shower cap - for 3 - 8 hours!

Head lice attach each nit (egg) to the hair shaft at the scalp with a waterproof cement-like substance. Although lice and nits are most commonly found at the nape of the neck and behind the ears, they can be found anywhere on the scalp or hair shafts. The grayish-white nits are shaped like an elongated football with a cap at one end to admit air and allow the young insect to escape. The young nymphs have a head plate with sharp toothlike spines (the egg-burster) they use to open the egg shell. Head lice can sometimes be found on pubic hair, eye lashes and eye brows. They can normally move about 9 in a minute at room temperature. Nuttall (1917) noted lice can survive under water for 24 hours at room temperature. People say a lot of things that are lice related, e.g., nitpicking, gone over with a fine-toothed comb, a lousy time, the nitty gritty, and wash or get it out of your hair. Hopefully, they will soon be saying they are easily removed with a good hygiene program and/or Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner.

The presence of nits does not always mean that a person still has a current infestation. The nits may be left from a past infestation that no longer needs to be treated. To determine whether a person is currently infested with head lice, there must be a louse visible or usually there must be nits attached to the hair shaft 1/4 or less from the scalp. If there is no evidence of live infestation, do not treat with any poison! Simply wash with a nit remover, e.g., Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner. The

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position of nits on the hair shaft usually can distinguish between current and past infestation because female lice attach their eggs to the hair shaft at the scalp. In 1 week, the time it takes for a louse egg to hatch, the average human hair grows about 1/4, carrying the egg with it. Therefore, nits more than 1/4 from the scalp usually either have already hatched or will never hatch. They may remain attached to the hair shaft for months, but play no role in the transmission of head lice. Simply cut out or remove these dead or empty nits with a lice comb and/or wash with Lice R Gone and Tangles R Gone.

Itching is the most common symptom (caused by the blood sucking and bacterial infections, e.g., impetigo), but many people with very light infestations may experience no initial symptoms at all. Therefore, you cannot always rely on itching or frequent head scratching to detect head lice. A thorough examination of the hair and scalp is necessary to detect head lice and/or nits. Persons infested with pubic lice should be examined for ac-companying venereal diseases, because there is a strong possibility that one is present with the other. Persons who think they are infested with lice should seek assistance from a physician, the health department or the school nurse and follow their instructions. These instructions may include a regular scheduled use of non-toxic Lice R Gone Shampoo, the regular use of a sauna, daily bathing, the routine laundering of bedding, clothing and towels in hot water; and the daily washing of combs and brushes in diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme clean-ers and/or borax. The entire family and all close school contacts should be routinely inspected and undergo simultaneous treatment(s) if necessary. Try every non-toxic control including metal nit or flea combs and Lice R Gone Shampoo and Tangles R Gone Hair Condtioner products first.

A home or school should never be sprayed, dusted or otherwise treated with insecticide poisons even when an occupant has an active head lice infestation. Lice live on their host and do not hide in wall crevices and floor cracks like cockroaches and other household pests. Treatment of homes, schools or any other dwell-ing with insecticide poisons would, therefore, be useless and dangerous. Cleaning of carpets, furniture, drapes, floors, etc. should be limited to simple vacuuming, or you can rinse-and-vac with enzyme or borax. Vacuuming is the safest and easiest way to remove lice or fallen hair shafts with attached nits from upholstered furniture, rugs, stuffed animals, (child) car seats, mattresses, carpets, bedrooms, mats, cots, and anything else that might have had contact with an infested child, when done - when finished vacuuming, put the vacuum cleaner bag outside in the trash. Even soap and water or borax will kill lice in bed linens, pillows, blankets and clothing if the water is hot enough (130o F.). All clothing and bedding used during the 2-day period prior to treatment should be laundered and dried in a hot dryer. Such high temperatures may be suitable for laundering purposes, but not for shampooing the head or for bathing the body. Dry heat, steam cleaning or pressing with a hot iron will also destroy all lice because they can survive only a few minutes at 130o F. Most home water heaters sup-ply water at sufficient temperatures to kill lice and their nits. Washing in cold or lukewarm water will not harm them. An alternative method (if you can not wash or dry clean some items) is to seal clothing and other articles, e.g., stuffed animals, hats, and helmets etc. in a plastic bag for 2 weeks. Place the plastic bags outdoors on a porch or deck or in the garage even if the lice hatch in the bag - they can not survive if they are not fed. This will also kill all lice and their nits or you can simply wash all infested articles with diluted enzyme cleaners and borax. Combs, brushes and similar items can also be treated by soaking for 1 hour in Lice R Gone Shampoo or by soaking them for 5 to 10 minutes in a pan of water heated on the stove to 130o F., or by soaking and/or washing in diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners with Peppermint and/or borax. Isnt it interesting that the EPA registered .5% permethrin Rid label for lice control on bedding and furniture warns avoid contact with skin, eyes or clothing. This product (poison) is not for use on humans. Vacate room after treatment and ventilate before reoccupying. Do not allow children or pets to contact treated area until surfaces are dry. While the Nix FDA registered lice treatment with 1% permethrin (twice as much poison) says Saturate hair and scalp (especially behind the ears and nape of the neck) and leave (the poison) on for 10 minutes! Do you really want to use poison on your kids?

Least-Toxic Head Lice Control

To help identify a lice infestation, Jennifer Campbell, LPN of Bad Axe, Michigan has the following suggestion for identifying a lice infestation. Place a piece of cellophane tape, sticky side out, on the index finger of your dominate hand. Taking a comb and gently lift up sections of hair checking for any movement. If you seen anything unusual on the hair or in the section, gently press the tape on the object and lift off. Then remove the tape and stick it on itself, trapping the object/louse and write with a ballpoint pen on the back of the tape where and when and on whom you collected it. This should assist many in identifying whether the object is a piece of dandruff or a louse.

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To avoid becoming infested with head lice, family members should daily shampoo and use a hair dryer; then everyone should be regularly inspected and be taught not to share other peoples combs, brushes, scarves, etc. At school, childrens clothing and other personal articles should be kept separate from those of other students, e.g., on pegs, in separate lockers or storage areas or on the backs of chairs). A school screening program can help keep head lice from becoming an epidemic. To help avoid personally becoming infested when you examine and/or shampoo someone else, make a cuff of duct tape (sticky side out) on each arm 7 - 9 above the wrist.Do not panic and spray the school or home with any synthetic pesticide poisons. Try washing with Lice R Gone Shampoo and Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner, oil of balsam, olive oil or Peppermint Soap or Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint, neem soap, dish soap and/or borax. Note: Lice R Gone not only removes the nits - it also safely removes the lice; wash again in 5 - 10 days and/or use shampoo as a (non-poison) prophylactic treatment. Note: freezing and even moderately elevated temperatures are lethal to body lice and their nits, e.g., lice die at 115o F. or 1 hour, 121.1o F. for 30 minutes, or 124.5o F. for 5 minutes, eggs less than 5 days old are killed in 5 minutes at 128.3o F. So take a sauna. Black people in the U. S. are rarely infested with head lice. This is thought to be because their hair is more oily. So, an alternative treatment is to saturate hair with baby oil at night to kill lice and nits. Wrap your head in a towel to prevent staining bed clothes. Wash hair thoroughly in the morning. Use a metal nit or flea comb to remove dead lice and nits. Routinely treat/inspect every member of the family. Daily shower with soap shampoo and practice proper personal hygiene. Avoid using other individuals combs, hats, towels or hairbrushes, and wash or sanitize these items frequently. Bedding and clothing should be changed and washed at temperatures at least 130o F. with soap and borax and dried in a dryer frequently. Daily vacuuming of carpeting, rugs and floors and routine sanitation of locker rooms with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners and/or borax and proper laundering can help reduce the incidence of lice. Educate yourself, your child and others about the biology of head lice, the probability of infestations and appropriate nontoxic methods for eliminating the problem. Watch for head scratching. When head lice infestations are common at school, check your childs head nightly with a bright light and comb. Begin treatment with Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or regular soap shampoos with hair conditoner and olive oil while combing with a specially designed metal head-lice (nit) comb as soon as infestations are detected. A. If schools have a no nit policy. It would be better if children with nits could simply undergo weekly scalp exams to make sure they have no lice. The May 2001 Issue of Pediatrics noted: Most children with nits alone will not become (lice) infected. Students should be sent home immediately with a letter explaining their infestation, the school policy and suggested controls, e.g., Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or metal nit combs. They should be re-examined by the school nurse before re- admission - if still infested they should be sent home again with a second note. Upon the third notation the lice and/or nits have not been removed, we advise you direct follow-up to the local health department and/or simply have the entire family treated with Lice R Gone Shampoo. Remember schools do not get lice - people do. B. Remove all nits - this assures total lice control. Shave the head or give a really good G.I. or brush haircut or wash with Lice R Gone Shampoo and then with Tangles R Gone Hair Condtioner; sepa rate hair into small sections and remove any remaining attached nits with a metal flea or lice comb, baby safety scissors, or your fingernails. Repeat every 7 days until all the lice and nits are gone. Provide each child with separate storage area for head coverings or other clothing at home and at school. Dont share towels, combs, brushes, head phones, scarves, hair ornaments, etc. Do not use any volatile, synthetic pesticide poisons in locker areas or other places. Vacuum and mop daily with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner and borax. Daily wash all of the bedding and clothing of the infested child in diluted enzyme cleaners and/or borax and place them in a clothes dryer at the hottest setting for 30 minutes at the same time the treat- ment of the hair and scalp is undertaken. Dry-clean garments that cannot be washed or store in plastic bags for at least 4 weeks. Follow a program that combines daily soap or salt water and vinegar shampoos or Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or regular soap and/or oil of balsam or olive oil and/or peppermint or neem soaps and combing out lice at least once a week for at least 3 weeks. Have the child lie on the kitchen counter with their head in the sink with their face up. This allows you to spend sufficient time and to be comfortable as you work and helps keep the material out of their eyes. You can also use the sinks spray hose to rinse. Soak combs and brushes for an hour in dish soap and ammonia in water or a in salt water or heat in a pan on the stove, or better yet, diluted Safe Solutins, Inc. enzyme solution. The NPA had serious con-

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cerns about using boiling water and/or Lysol 2% or better because they have had reports of 3rd degree burns and/or of adverse reactions from people who have done this. Use insecticidal poison shampoo preparations only as a last resort (never preventively), only after combing and shampooing with non-poisons, e.g., regular soap and olive oil or Lice R Gone Shampoo or salt water and vinegar and metal flea or lice combs and saunas have proven ineffec- tive. Remember, there are no safe pesticide poisons! Lice R Gone has never failed to remove lice! Pyrethrin-based pediculicides active ingredients may be less hazardous to humans than those containing lindane, but no pesticide poison is safe and they can be considered to be carcinogenic. It is best never to use lindane or any other volatile, synthetic pesticide poison. On Tuesday 11/05/96 we were told another IPM success story - one of our schools had a teacher who unsuccessfully tried 3 different head lice poison treatments on her own children and continually changed and/or bought new bed linens, etc. - all of which was dangerous and/or expensive and did not work, because her children still had head lice. The superintendents secretary, who had been at one of our in-service meetings, told her to wet her childrens heads and shampoo for 10 - 15 minutes with oz. of enzyme cleaner - she did, and of course, Safe Solutions, Inc. (nontoxic to people) enzyme cleaner - not only removed the lice, it removed the nits - now everyone in that school district is very excited about alternative pest control. Remember, enzyme cleaners, e.g., Lice R Gone, especially those that contain protease enzymes, will quickly and safely destroy insect exoskeletons - when insects molt they inject protease enzymes into the seam of their exoskeletons to naturally open the exo-skeleton up - so they can step out. Obviously, protease enzymes like those in Lice R Gone Shampoo will never create immune or resistant insects like volatile, synthetic pesticide poisons do and they are virtually nontoxic to people and pets. So, we suggest you shampoo with Lice R Gone Shampoo - that makes the hair so slick they can not stick. Cover the eyes with a towel in order to protect them. The last ingredient in Lice R Gone Shampoo and Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner/Safe Solutions, Inc. products is peace of mind. If you really want a shock - compare just the active ingredients in several over-the-counter (commercial) head lice (poison) shampoos with a can of Raid - the Raid can that warns you not to let the contents touch the skin - usually has less active ingredients/poisons! (Note: Both pyrethrin and pipernoyl butoxide are now considered to be carcinogenic!) There is twice as much piperonyl butoxide (PBO) in the head lice shampoo as the Raid. There is only 0.4% pyrethrins in the Raid poison can and the can cautions you not to get any of the spray on you or your clothing, but the head lice poison shampoo tells you to put it all on your childs head! Pyrethrin poison formulas with 5% concentrations of permethrin are now being prescribed with some physicians recommending leaving the entire permethrin poison shampoos on your childs head for 1 - 2 hours instead of the 10 minutes suggested on most labels. Stronger poisons and increased exposure time makes toxic reactions far more likely! Would you spray your childs head with Raid? Then, why would you use an even stronger poison with which to soak your childs head? for 10 minutes, 3 - 8 hours or longer? Will that really give you peace of mind? Be sure you routinely clean all bedside furniture, classrooms, ambulances, and school buses with diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaners. You can spray the furniture and floors with Not Nice to Bugs, an EPA exempted formula or lightly dust with food-grade DE.Salt - Simply swimming or bathing in the ocean or simply bathing and/or shampooing with salt water once a week on a routine basis will control all lice infestation, but not the nits. Use a hair dryer to help kill the lice and nits.Cider Vinegar - Helps loosen/dissolve nit glue so the nits can be combed out.Hair Spray - Clark County Health Department suggests using hair spray every day and pulling hair back to help prevent head lice.

Note: Confusing nonviable eggs with living nits is common, as is prescribing insecticide poisons over the phone without any inspection of the scalp or eggs with a lens or microscope. Both situa- tions may result in unnecessary exposure to a toxic pesticide poison and should not be tolerated.

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Crab or Pubic Lice Overview Phthirus pubis (Linnaeus)

Adult crab lice are only a little over half the size of body or head lice, rarely more than 1/12 long; their last two pairs of legs terminate in hooked mitts that resemble crab claws. These lice are confined to coarse pubic hair and sometimes armpits, eyebrows and eyelashes. Pubic lice move very little in the pubic region and produce few eggs. The most common method of transmission of crab or public lice is by sexual intercourse. When in-fested pubic hair detaches, lice can hatch on underwear, towels, in beds, or on toilet fixtures. If their immediate environment is above 50o F., a pair of pubic lice could infest another person without personal contact.

Crab or Pubic Lice Control

Accurate, calm communications are invaluable in explaining pubic louse infestations and making recommenda-tions for their control.

Use diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint to clean and Lice R Gone Shampoo or neem soaps, or borax and/or sauna. Routinely wash bedding and underwear. Use 2 oz. Safe Solutions, Inc. Enzyme Cleaners with Pepper- mint and cup of borax. Use detergents, diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners, ammonia and/or disinfectants in bedside furniture, toilets, seats, floors and/or general clean-up. Daily vacuum and then mop with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner and borax.

Least-Toxic Crab or Pubic Lice Control

If your pubic area itches, seek diagnosis immediately; there is no reason to suffer unnecessarily. Moreover, if you wait, you may infect others. Note, however, that itching does not necessarily indicate pubic lice - there are other, noninfectious causes of itching in this area, including heat. If pubic lice are diagnosed, wash bedding and clothing in diluted enzymes and/or borax and/or place them in a hot clothes dryer. If you apply an insecticide poison to your pubic area (very dangerous) do so only as a last resort, or because your doctor has prescribed them. Simply going into a sauna or shaving the affected area and then washing the skin vigorously each day with plain old hot soapy water will usu- ally eliminate the lice. Coconut- or olive-oil-based soaps, e.g., diluted peppermint soaps, have natural insecticidal properties and should be used first. Small infestations may also be cut or shaved off and/or combed out and/or try Lice R Gone Shampoo, neem soaps, diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners and/or oil of balsam or oil of anise and/or some diluted peppermint soap with salt and/or borax laundry powder or simply salt water. Pyrethrin pediculicides or the pyrethroid NIX are supposedly more effective than lindane (gammabenzene hexachloride) and are less toxic. Pyrethrins are available over the counter in local drug stores; NIX with permethrin is only available by doctor prescription. Use registered poisons only as a last resort. Make sure your sexual partner(s) are alerted to the problem, educated about the infestation, exam- ined and treated, if necessary.

BODY AND HEAD LICE OVERVIEWPediculus humanus (Linnaeus) and/or Pediculus humanus capitus (DeGeer)

Body and head lice are virtually indistinguishable in appearance and life cycle; however, their behavior is very different: Both suck blood, but body lice engorge themselves, feeding to the point that their abdomens become purple and distended. Body lice are easily reared on rabbit blood after a period of assimilation but head lice can only be successfully reared on humans. Body lice harbor on clothes, hiding along seams and moving to the body to engorge. They do not usually deposit their eggs on body hair or head hair but on clothing. While body louse epidemics can be controlled on humans by emergency applications of dangerous synthetic pesticide poisons (dusts usually), we believe control is best maintained by daily baths and daily cleaning and washing of clothes using diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners and/or borax and (if your doctor permits) saunas. Try using diluted enzyme cleaners and/or borax to wash infested clothing. Note: Safe Solutions enzyme cleaners and shampoo products may eat some natural dyes.

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Body lice, historically the most common human louse, are now very rare in the United States. Infestations appear on those who cannot take care of themselves like homeless individuals who can not or choose not to daily bathe and to daily remove their clothes for cleaning and washing. Infested clothing passed from one individual to another also is a common method of transmission. Wash with Lice R Gone or enzyme cleaners or peppermint soap with borax. The body louses preference for tight places in clothing earns it the nickname seam squirrel.

Body Louse Control

Some general application volatile, synethetic pesticide poison formulations are labeled for spraying but are of little value and very dangerous. Try using salt, diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint and/or Lice R Gone Shampoo first.

Clean or wash clothing, bedding, etc., with detergents or diluted enzyme cleaners and/or borax to kill lice. Daily bathe with diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzymes to detach and kill moving lice on the body. Use detergents, Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner or shampoos and/or disinfectants and/or borax to clean bed frames, bedside furniture, ambulances, ambulance and hospital equipment. Counsel occupants carefully to control emotionally-charged situations and prevent louse reinfestations.

Least-toxic Body and Head Lice Control

To control body lice daily change into clean underwear and clothing - remember, simple laundering kills lice in 5 minutes, eggs or nits in 10 at 130o F. With daily showers and frequent changes of properly laundered clothing, a body lice infestation will eventually end without any pesticide poison treatment. For head lice: Never borrow and use anyones hat, helmet, wig, scarf, comb or brush. Use diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaners and/or oil of balsam or oil of anise, and/or borax and/or peppermint (especially with enzymes) or neem soap and/or Lice R Gone Shampoo. Be sure you are not sensitive to any of the above-mentioned products.

Uncomplicated Scabies (See http://www.scabie-solutions.com)

Uncomplicated scabies is a contagious (catching) disorder of the skin caused by very small, wingless insects or mites called the Human Itch mite or Scabies itch mite Sarcoptes scabiei var. hominis (Hering). The female scabies mite is only .35 millimeters long. (Note: One full millimeter is only .04 inch.)The female scabies mite The female mite burrows into the skin, making a short serpentine tunnel where she lays 1 - 3 eggs daily. The tunnel looks like a thin red and/or gray line. A very small, hard to see, zig-zag blister (or pearl-like bump)usually marks the trail of the insect as she lays her eggs. Scratching will pop the little blister at the end of the track where the female has laid her eggs, may cause even more mites to feed upon you. Other more obvious symptoms are an intense itching (especially at night) and a red rash that can occur at the area that has been scratched. The most common locations for scabies are on the sides of fingers, between the fingers, on the backs of the hands, on the wrists, heels, elbows, armpits, knees, nipples of women, the genitalia of men, the lower part of the but-tocks, inner thighs and around the waist (belt line). Babies may have burrows on the soles of their feet, palms of their hands and faces. They also infest various body orifices including noses, ears, etc. Anecdotal comments have noted they are more visual between 4 - 6 p.m. If untreated, the female will continue to lay eggs for about five weeks. The eggs hatch and the new mites begin the cycle all over again. The mites themselves are too small to be seen without magnification. One of the great problems with scabies always has been misdiagnosis. The impregnated scabies mite is spread by personal contact, e.g., by shaking hands or sleeping together or by close contact with infected articles such as clothing, bedding or towels. It is usually found where people are crowded together or have frequent contact, and is most common among school children, families, roommates, and sexual partners. Scabies can be spread by the mite itself or by the egg. Prompt action is required to rid a person of the mites and eggs. Sulfur has been used (6 - 10% in lotion or cream) since Roman times as a scabicide, but you might be allergic. Note: Celsus used sulfer mixed with liquid pitch to control scabies as early at 25 A.D. Today you can mix 6% sulfur in Vaseline. Castor oil or olive oil continually applied for 8 hours may suffocate the females. The intense itching, or puritus, is thought to be due to a reaction within the skin to the feces of the mites. This itching usually becomes worse at night and/or after a hot shower. Take Not Nice to Toxins and 1 teaspoon of food-grade DE daily. An antihistamine will help stop the itching as will Calamine lotion or diluted enzyme cleaner.

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If you think your child or someone else in the family has scabies - Try a sauna and/or try bathing, wash-ing or soaking in diluted Lice R Gone Shampoo or diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaners, sulfur and/or borax - then call your medical provider to be sure you are no longer infected.

Try Lice R Gone Shampoo and/or Not Nice to Skin Irritations and/or Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners with Peppermint and borax or salt or a sauna first. Adding vinegar to a salt bath will help prevent scratch es from becoming secondarily infected with bacteria. We have anectodal testimonies that taking Not Nice to Toxins along with diluted Safe Solutions enzyme treatments speeds the control of scabies. Carefully make any application of any poison lotion only according to the doctors specific written instruc- tions. Do poison treatments only as a last resort. Examine all other family members carefully for the presence of scabies - use a magnifying glass. To avoid reinfestation, all clothing, towels and bedding should be thoroughly laundered once all those with scabies begin their treatment. Use hot water over 120o F. (equal to hot tap water in most homes). Try washing in diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners or 2 oz. of Lice R Gone and cup of borax. Combs, brushes, barrettes and anything with which your child has had contact should be soaked in hot water (over 120o F.) and Safe Solutions enzyme cleaners or shampoos or borax for at least 15 minutes. Periodically check your child for symptoms which may indicate reinfection. Expect the rash to take at least two weeks to clear up. Try Lice R Gone Shampoo and Tangles R Gone. At 82o F. scabies mites not on a host die in 24 hours from desiccation. Most normal infestations of scabies are caused by no more than 15 mites altogether and scratching helps remove them. In most cases your child can return to school after the first treatment and after all clothing, towels and bedding have been washed and dried in a clothes dryer.

Prevention - Good hygiene is essential for the prevention of scabies.

In May 2002 the Centers for Disease Control included scabies as one of the sexually transmitted diseas-es. The adult scabies mite can only survive for 1 -3 days (a nymph for 2 - 5 days) when it leaves the skin. Occasionally, the mite that causes mange in dogs may infect people, but these mites can not live long on people. Try routinely using a sauna - try bathing in salt water, soaking or washing in diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners and/or borax and/or sulfur with cup of olive oil and coconut oil for 3 days and lightly cover the body with olive oil and coconut oil after drying off with a clean towel. Caution: Coconut oil is known for its ability to penetrate skin. Olive oil is known for its ability to smother insects. Regularly change and wash all clothing, bedding, towels and under wear with borax and enzyme clean- ers; practice proper sanitation. When laundering towels, clothing and bedding use hot water and Safe Solutions enzyme cleaners and/or borax or store them in sealed plastic bags for 2 weeks.Children should not share clothing or other personal articles such as hair brushes, combs or towels with one another. When an outbreak of scabies is reported be alert for symptoms in all members of your family. If your child has scabies, please notify the school authorities so the school will be alerted to check for any outbreak.

The above measures are suggested to help prevent reinfestation. However, even the medicated (poison) lotion treatment for scabies does not provide long-term protection and resistance and/or reinfestation is always pos-sible. So watch and practice proper prevention - Remember to try to avoid the use of poison on your person or child at all costs. This will lower your and your childs immune system. There has been some discussion of using ivermectin (orally) to control scabies. Try Not Nice to Toxins and Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners and Lice R Gone first.

Please also see Chapter 20 and/or http://www.scabie-solutions.com for more on scabies.

Norwegian or Keratotic or Crusted Scabies - Infestation of high numbers of mites occurs when no treatment is made including scratching, or when an individual has a weakened immune system (Read Chapter 40.). These

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major aggressive infestations are referred to as Keratotic Scabies, Crusted Scabies or Norwegian Scabies. Infected patients have thickened, crusty areas all over their bodies, including their scalps. Their skin appears scaly and their fingernails may become thick and horny. Most patients who become so heavily infected do not scratch, have weakened immune systems due to diseases, e.g, aids, leukemia, diabetes and/or are exposed to pesticides or medicines such as those given in chemotherapy or after they have received a transplanted organ, drink heavily and/or live in institutions, e.g., nursing homes, hospitals, residential facilities, prisons and other communities; they may be debilitated and/or malnourished or elderly, mentally retarded, physically infirm and/or have other diseases that affect their skins ability to feel sensation.

Testing - According to the American Academy of Dermatology the most common test involves applying a drop of sterile mineral oil to the suspected lesion. The site is then scraped with a scalpel and the scrapings are trans-ferred to a slide. Under a microscope, the doctor should be able to find scabies mites, their eggs and/or feces. Another option is an ink test, in which the doctor applies a blue or black felt-tipped pen to the suspected areas. Then the skin is cleaned. Mite burrows can be revealed if the ink sinks into them.

Spot Treatment(s) - Take oz. of Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner or oz. of Lice R Gone and dilute in a cup of water. Put a (1 x 1) gauze pad over the infested area(s) and keep the pad(s) moist (using an eye dropper) for at least one hour (or spray as needed). Use this technique on the infested area(s) daily for at least 2 weeks and/or as needed. You can also make a mix of 1 oz. enzyme cleaner per quart (32 oz.) of water and spray as needed.A paste made from two herbs, neem (Azadirachta indica) and tumeric (Curcuma longa) applied to the infected area(s) daily for 2 weeks (or as needed) will help heal scabies.

Bathing - If you decide to use Lice R Gone or diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner, use 2- 6 oz. per bath (You can also add cup of borax or kosher salt and cup of vinegar to your bath water.), add body temperature water (not hot) up to your hips and soak for at least 30 minutes. Use a wash cloth and keep the entire body wet. Keep out of eyes. Bathe in solution at least once a week for 2 - 3 weeks and/or as needed.

SEVERAL LAST TOXIC CONTROL CAUTIONS/WARNINGS

Resistant lice infestations are so common now that people are using these dangerous over-the-counter poison shampoos for far longer periods or more frequently than they should and if you think this is bad - on 11/1/96 Warner Lambert manufacturer of the product Nix received FDA approval to market this poison as a prophy-lactic agent! Lice are already resistant to permethrin poison as reported in the U. S., Canada, the U.K., Israel and Czechoslovakia, but children are not resistant to these poisons. In the Winter/Spring/1997 issue of NPAs Progress a mother who lost her son to leukemia after she repeatedly shampooed his hair to prevent lice found an issue of Chemical Engineering News (in order to find a correlation with Nix and Lindane) which had an article on the phasing out of chlorinated hydrocarbons. It included a specific chart which included a listing of endocrine disrupters. Synthetic pyrethroids such as permethrin found in Nix were included in the chart with different herbicides, fungicides and pesticide poisons. They were all in the same category in terms of the health effects - and the negative effects were many!

Treating actual lice or scabies infestations with lindane can cause many adverse health problems including permanent seizure disorders and severe mental retardation. In February, 1993, Barre National, a generic lindane lotion manufacturer, settled the Santiago familys Massachusetts lawsuit for severe brain injury. Previously the pharmacy that sold the poison had settled with the family. In 1986, a pediatrician prescribed 2 ounces of Kwell (1% lindane) lotion to treat Jose Santiagos scabies infestation. (The Kwell brand product has been withdrawn from the market.) The pharmacist sold Mrs. Santiago 4 ounces of a generic brand. Mrs. Santiago applied it to her baby nightly for a week. Today, 9-year-old Jose has a permanent seizure disorder and has only developed to the level of a 3-year-old. Lindane is an organochlorine pesticide poison in the same family as the banned carcinogens DDT and chlordane. Lindane has been linked to serious brain injury and seizure disorders, and it is suspected of causing cancer, birth defects, fetal toxicity, developmental neurotoxicity, blood dyscrasias and reproductive disorders. In 1983, Public Citizens Health Resource Group petitioned the FDA to ban all medicines containing lindane, as more seizures and brain damage kept being reported.

The National Pediculosis Association (NPA) had an article in the spring 1994 NPAs Progress written by a school nurse, Judy Magee. In 1992 she conducted a survey of 27 families with 119 children. She found: (1) 23% of

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the children had been treated with (doctor-prescribed) lindane. Only one of the six families said they used the lindane as prescribed. Most used this dangerous carcinogen more frequently, left it on longer or incorrectly used it with an oil based product. (2) Over the counter lice control products containing pyrethrins or pyrethroids were used on over 90% of the children during the past year. Only 18% of the families surveyed used the poisons ac-cording to label direction. (3) 32% of the children were treated with dangerous home remedies. One mother rubs Black Flag Roach Killer into her childrens hair every day. Raid, flea soap, kerosene and/or the illegal roach product Chinese Chalk were also used. (4) The label directions on common lice poison products are written at a ninth or tenth grade reading level. One-third of U.S. adults read at or below the eighth grade level. One-quarter of the families Judy Magee surveyed could not read English.

The June 1998 issue of the Landsculptor noted: 6-year-old girl serious after hair washed in pesticide.Oklahoma City (AP) A six-year-old girl whose hair was washed in an agricultural-strength pesticide was in serious condition Friday in the hospital. The man who washed the childs hair Wednesday told police he didnt realize the potency of the Diazinon he used to try to kill head lice. The chemical was intended for licensed commercial use only. It has a neuromuscular paralyzing agent that is extremely toxic to humans. The child went into cardiac and respiratory arrest after her mothers friend washed her hair at the kitchen sink. The man called 911 when she stopped breathing and police used CPR on the child until they could reach paramedics. The doctor who treated the girl said it could be weeks before they can assess any permanent damage. The girl had CPR very quickly and that is beneficial, he said. But she received a very large dose on an absorptive surface, so it will take a while until the poison runs its course. We washed her hair over and over again and she still smelled strongly of the chemical. The detective investigating the case said the girls mother told him she got the container of Diazinon while cleaning an empty real estate property. The container was clearly marked with poison warnings.

In May, 1994, the federal German Environmental Protection Agency issued a warning about the indoor use of any insecticide sprays containing pyrethroids. Pyrethrins are derived from a chrysanthemum flower; 2000 years ago the Chinese use dried flowers containing pyrethrum to kill fleas and lice. Synthetic pyrethroids were initially developed to be synthetic analogs to pyrethrins, but molecularly their structures have greatly diverged. Pyrethroids kill by affecting the nervous system, and their mode of action appears to be similar to DDTs. Many pyrethroids contain halogens, e.g., chlorine, bromine or fluorine atoms and as the German EPA warns they also attack human health. Permethrin, resmethrin, allethrin, tetramethrin, cyfluthrin, fluvalinate, fenvalerate and phe-nothrin are all synthetic pyrethroid poisons. The unregistered roach killer Chinese Chalk appears to contain a very toxic pyrethroid called deltamethrin. The Author never advises using any volatile, synthetic pyrethroid or lindane or malathion shampoos on your child. The Author also advises not to use any enzyme prod-uct that contains over 1% protease enzyme. Make sure you know all of the ingredients in any shampoo before you use it on your family!

Even the least-toxic, over-the-counter pesticide poison shampoos or lotions containing pyrethroids (e.g, perme-thrin) or pyrethrins can cause many health reactions in many humans, e.g., many different allergic and respira-tory problems (especially severe in asthmatics) and a strange tingling, itching and/or a burning skin sensation called paresthisia are common health complaints. That is why they have so many health warnings on them. Piperonyl butoxide (PBO) is a synergistic toxin added to many insecticide poisons, especially to pyrethrin and pyrethroids, to make them more lethal to insects. PBO makes it harder for insects to detoxify (and anything else to detoxify, including you.) The Eleventh Edition of the Merck Index on page 1266 under Pyrethrin has this caution: Can cause severe allergies, dermititis, systemic allergic reactions. Large amounts may cause nausea, vomiting, tinnitus, headache and other CNS (Central Nervous system) disturbances. (Note: Both pyrethrin and pipernoyl butoxide are now considered to be carcinogenic.) In Shirley A. Briggs Basic Guide to Pesticides she notes that acute (one time) oral exposure to permethrin has a low to high toxicity, that nothing was known about acute dermal toxicity and that acute inhalation toxicity was also low to high and that long-term or chronic toxicity could cause blood damage. There is a Washington Post article that quotes Cheston Berlin Jr. a pediatrician and pharmacologist as saying many doctors are recommending to their patients several different lice shampoos that are available without prescription. Most rely on the chemicals permethrin and pyrethrins as active ingredients, which are (supposedly) nontoxic in humans because they are so rapidly metabolized. Someone ought to tell the good Doctor what pipernol butoxide does - it stops this metabolizing process and is twice as strong in these shampoos than it is in a can of Raid! The eighth edition of SAXS Dangerous Properties of Industrial Materials notes, Piperonyl Butoxide (C19H30O5) Safety Profile: Poison by skin contact. Moderately toxic by ingestion and intraperitoneal routes. An experimental teratogen. Experimental reproductive effects. Many glycol ether com-

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pounds have dangerous human reproductive effects. Questionable carcinogen with experimental tumorigenic data. Mutation data reported. Combustible when exposed to heat or flame; can react with oxidizing materials SAXS also noted, Pyrethrins Safety Profile: Moderately toxic to humans by ingestion. Poison experimentally by ingestion, intraperitoneal and intravenous route. Experimental reproductive effects...can cause gastrointestinal, respiratory and central nervous system effects. A dose of 15 grams (only a little more than ounce) has caused the death of a child. Chronic exposures can cause liver damage. A 37-year old woman developed severe short-ness of breath five minutes after beginning to wash her family dog with D-Flea insecticide shampoo containing pyrethrin. Her death shortly after her arrival at the nearest hospital was attributed to sudden, irreversible, bron-chial spasm from exposure to the pyrethrin shampoo. According to a report by Paul M. Wax of Rochester, New York - Clinical toxicology (32:4, 1994) - NPA noted that while this report was not associated with head lice, the NPA has had reports that are using pet (poison) shampoos on children - because of all the treatment failures they have been having with commercially available lice treatments/poisons. If you think the Raid example was bad, I noticed an advertisment from FMC in the May 1998 Service Technician/PCT that proudly proclaims the termiticide (poison) they sell to use against termites is the same active poison ingredient used as a lice shampoo for children! Then FMC notes that in soil degradation studies conducted all acoss the country this termiticide poison (permethrin) has been shown to be the longest lasting soil poison! - Implying that if your children get lice you can simply have the termite man spray their heads with the longest-lasting soil poison on the market today! Amazing! Many thousands of people have safely gotten control of resistant head lice and nits with Lice R Gone Enzyme Shampoo and Nit Remover and Tangles R Gone Hair Condtioner.

Our Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is not expected to make a decision on the re-registration of PBO until at least 1996. Our Food and Drug Administration (FDA) still maintains that lindane products are safe and effective when used as directed! This in spite of all of the contrary health evidence and the federal law that clearly states it is illegal to say any pesticide poison is safe. On March 16, 1994, our EPA stated that lindane will remain on the market while it (slowly) compiles more health data on its risks. Note: way back in 1977, EPA initiated a special review of lindane due to all of the known and suspected health problems and negative environ-mental effects then yet no serious action has yet been taken. Prescription lindane lice and scabies poisons are still being used on children by family members and in hospitals, schools and other institutions. Lindane is also still being used to treat Christmas trees, agricultural seeds, livestock, pecans, logs and lumber, ornamentals, forest trees, pets, households and other buildings and assorted fruits and vegetables! Bon appetit!

Propylene glycol is used as an inert in many over-the-counter shampoos. The Spectrum Material Safety Data Sheet notes propylene glycols potential acute health effects as: very dangerous in case of ingestion. Slightly dangerous to dangerous to dangerous in case of skin contact (irritant), of eye contact (irritant), of inhalation. Very slightly to slightly dangerous in case of skin contact (permeator). This product may irritate eyes and skin upon contract.

If you have used pediculide or scabicide poisons in the past, we suggest you use Not Nice to Toxins and Safe Solutions Food-grade DE to help detox your body.

Intelligent Pest ManagementLice - Typical First Strikes by Housekeeping & Maintenance

1. Thoroughly vacuum each room daily wherever lice have been a problem and spray carpets and floors with Not Nice to Bugs or 1 oz. of Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint (per quart of water) or mop floors with 1 oz. Safe Solutions, Inc. enzyme cleaners and borax. If you must spray, spray furni ture and bedding with Not Nice to Bugs.2. Give parents and teachers a copy of this entire chapter on Lice.3. Give whoever asks 2 packets or an 8 oz. bottle of Lice R Gone Shampoo for each child and this chapter. This non-poisonous shampoo makes the hair so slick they cant stick and lice can not live off the body for very long. You only need to give 1 bottle of Lice R Gone to treat an entire family. (Only oz. of Lice R Gone will remove the lice and nits on a long-haired person in 5 - 10 minutes.) If you have been us- ing other pediculicides, this treatment may have literally welded the nits to the hair shaft and it may take several more minutes and/or shampoos and/or Tangles R Gone Hair Conditioner to re move these treated nits. A simple hair dryer will kill lice, especially if you use a shower cap.4. Assign each child his/her own locker or hook.5. For stubborn cases, wash each family members hair once a week for 3 weeks with Lice R Gone.

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Note: Lice are host specific; there are lice that attack goats that will not attack cattle. There are lice that are common external parasites affecting cattle, sheep, goats, swine, poultry and other livestock. Many organic farmers are looking for safe ways to control these pests without using dangerous, synthetic, chemical insecticide poisons. They should first try a fine-toothed metal lice or flea comb, Lice R Gone or Not Nice to Fleas Shampoos or diluted Safe Solutions, Inc. Enzyme Cleaner. Vigorously shampoo with Lice R Gone Enzyme Shampoo for 10 - 15 minutes and then, while still wet, add some Tangles R Gone Hair Conditoner and comb with a regular comb to detangle the hair and then a fine-toothed metal flea or lice comb should be used to comb 1 sections of hair in order to remove the loosened nits. Then manually inspect the hair for any remaining nits before you rinse. Rather than spraying surfaces, use ultra-violet light to disinfect and kill eggs.

There are two kinds of lice that affect cattle/cows: biting lice and sucking lice. Lice are passed between animals as they feed or crowd together. Biting lice move along the topline (spine) and are about the size of a pin head, straw-colored and soft-bodied. Biting lice feed on dead skin and hair follicles. They are very common on cattle, sheep, goats and swine. Sucking lice are blue-black and very small; they are attached to the skin. Inspect for them by scraping the skin with a knife and shaking scrapings onto a stiff piece of white paper. Wash or (better yet) dip each animal from nose to tail with diluted Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaners or the veterinary put-up of Lice R Gone Shampoo and borax . Repeat treatment in 2 - 3 weeks. The enzyme cleaner wash should still be effective in a dip tank and should control many other ectoparasites. Mix at a rate of 1 quart of Safe Solutions Enzyme Cleaner with Peppermint to 50 gallons of water.

For those who may be interested, the word lice in Hebrew is kinim - one of the plagues God sent to punish Egypt was lice - even to this day parents and farmers respond to lice like they are truly plagues. Exod. 8:16-18

A staggering 20 million Americans find out each year we live in a lousy world - when they become infested or plagued with lice! The really lousy part of this is many are treated repeatedly with dangerous, volatile, synthetic pesticide poisons that no longer control the lice; some people have treated their children 10, 20 and even 30 or more times with over-the-counter poison shampoos without getting rid of the resistant lice!

Caution: Before treating with any volatile pesticide poison shampoo or lotion or even a regular soap shampoo, read the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) for not only the active poison ingredient, but also for all of the inerts. Never apply any pesticide poison shampoo in the shower. Be sure to cover the eyes with a towel to protect them. The warm, close enviornment can allow a dangerously high amount of the poison to be absorbed. Observe all warning labels. Do not use a shower cap. These registered poisons are especially dangerous for pregnant or nursing women, children younger than 2 months, or anyone with asthma.

Other than plain salt (Natrium muriaticum) water; another simple lice-killing shampoo formula Safe Solutions has combines several simple ingredients (e.g., Sodium Lauryl Sulfate, Sodium Chloride, Potassium Sorbate) which are all also on the USEPA exempted products list and, when combined, these ingedients basically make soapy salt water that will indeed safely kill lice but will not remove the nits.

Sodium laureth sulfate, or sodium lauryl ether sulfate (SLES), is a detergent and surfactant found in many personal care products (soaps , shampoos , toothpaste etc.). It is an inexpensive and very effective foamer. Sodium lauryl sulfate (also known as sodium dodecyl